Patients with HIV who are hospitalized for Burkitt lymphoma have a greater risk for 30-day readmission compared with patients hospitalized for Burkitt lymphoma who are HIV-negative, according to findings published in AIDS Research and Therapy. Manasa Velagapudi, MD, and colleagues examined the association between HIV status and risk for 30-day and 90-day readmission after initial hospitalization for Burkitt lymphoma in the United States. Of 8,453 hospitalizations, 6.0% included a diagnosis of HIV. A majority of patients hospitalized (68.4%) were readmitted 30 days after the initial hospitalization, including 6.8% with HIV. The researchers noted an association between HIV-associated Burkitt lymphoma with 43% greater adjusted odds of 30-day readmission (P=0.026). For 90-day readmission, 76% of patients were readmitted, 7% of whom had HIV. However, HIV-associated Burkitt lymphoma was not statistically associated with all-cause 90-day readmission. “This increased risk of readmission is likely multifactorial and warrants further research to study the effect of chemotherapy regimen, risk [for] infections, and other cancer-specific features related to this outcome,” Dr. Velagapudi and colleagues wrote.
